linspired: October 2015

Friday, October 30, 2015

Coral Me Mine

Happy Friday!

It's been a couple of weeks since I did a fashion post. 24 hours in a day just isn't enough!

But since my boys are off from school today, I am forced to stay home. And since they are home, my photographer is finally free as well. :)

I scored this beautiful coral BCBG dress when we were on vacation in Maui. We were doing a family photo shoot and I didn't have anything to wear. If you read my post about that vacation, you might recall seeing this dress. It was on sale, it was perfect for photos, so I bought it. I wore this dress again for my children's piano recital this past Saturday - which was phenomenal, by the way. I can't tell you how proud I am as their mom when I watch that all their efforts from practicing has paid off. *beam*

And you know me. I love finding multiple ways of wearing a dress. It's just more bang for your buck when you can style a fancy dress for casual wear. I went the casual route for the recital, and it was the perfect balance - since it was a Halloween-themed recital, it wasn't meant to be fancy and stuffy. Yet, at the same time, it IS a performance, and there WAS an audience. I didn't exactly want to go in flip flops and shorts. I think my outfit stroke the perfect note. Pun intended!

Casual

Dress: BCBG, similar here

Jacket: GAP

Shoes: Tory Burch, old, this one here is really cute

Bag: Zara, older, this metallic one here is gorgeous

Necklace: H&M, old, this one here is adorable as well

Dressy

Shoes: Jimmy Choo via Neiman Marcus

Bag: Saint Laurent, similar here

Necklace: J Crew, similar here

This is my first pair of Jimmy Choos. And my gosh, now I know what all the hype is about. They're so incredibly comfortable. I never thought they were that appealing - I like my fancy shoes really fancy. Like, bling bling fancy. Somehow Jimmy Choos never caught my eye. But I needed a pair of shoes in a metallic silver/gold color for an upcoming wedding. I searched up and down my local mall, all over the internet, and finally settled on this one. And am I really glad I got them! You get what you pay for, that's for sure! You might be thinking, "Why would I need such nice shoes? I don't have any where fancy to go!" Trust me. There are always places to wear nice shoes. GNOs, baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, company holiday parties, anniversary parties, Vegas, etc, etc. Take my advice, buy the ONE pair of really nice shoes (in a neutral color), and forgo all the other ten pairs of mediocre shoes. Your feet will thank you!

Happy shopping!

xo,

Lin

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

It's only a few days until Halloween, what are your plans? My family is attending a friend's Halloween party, after we stuff our bellies, we're going to go walk it off around her neighborhood and go Trick-or-Treating with the kids.

My boys are going as Thor and Hawkeye, and my daughter is going as "new" Cinderella - the one with Lily James and Cate Blanchette. I was going to be Lady Tremaine, but couldn't find a costume that I liked. So I got my creative juices going and made my own costume. It's the first time I've made my own costume and I was pretty proud of my idea. I'm going to be a clock that strikes midnight! Isn't that fun?! My husband always dresses up in as outrageous a costume as he can find (he was a full on Olaf to our daughter's Elsa last year), so he wanted to be the Hulk to match the boys' Avenger's theme. But we just couldn't find a good Hulk costume. So I told him that I'd make his costume too. We'll all match our daughter. And...he will now be Cinderella's pumpkin! The problem was, I couldn't find a good pumpkin costume. Every single one has a scary Jack-O-Lantern face on it. So I got a piece of blue fabric, sewed it on the pumpkin costume to cover scary Jack, then used black felt and made a pumpkin carriage silhouette. Then glued that on the fabric. It's looks totally awesome. I'll post pictures of the three of us once we all put our costumes on. :) I think we should win any costume contest!

Well, enough talk about Halloween (I think I'm more excited than the kids!). I recently made these short ribs and they were a fan favorite at my house. Everyone loved them. Even my husband! And he's a man that's hard to please. I adapted this again from a Chinese cook book. So I will translate and post it here for you.

Ingredients:
1/3 lb short ribs
2/3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cooking wine (or any wine)
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
dash of salt
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water

Instructions:
1) Marinate ribs with soy sauce, wine, garlic, and salt mixture for 20 min
2) Coat with cornstarch and flour, then deep fry until golden. Remove.
3) Combine ketchup, sugar, and water. Cook with 1 tbsp of oil until boiling. Put ribs in sauce and coat evenly in high heat. When sauce has nearly dried up, remove and serve.

Happy cooking!

Xo,
Lin

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Pork Tender Loin with Garlic Sauce

Happy Tuesday!

I wasn't able to post a recipe last week because I got busy with some book fair preparations. But I really wanted to share this easy recipe with you. There's not much preparations at all! Just a large pot, pork, some asian sauces and garlic, and you're DONE! Here goes!

Ingredients

1-2 lbs of pork tender loin
2-3 cloves or garlic, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar

Instructions

1) combine all sauces
2) add garlic in sauce
3) boil pork tender loin until done, about 1 hour in medium heat
4) slice into thin slices, and you can either pour garlic sauce on the slices, or use as dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Lin

Friday, October 9, 2015

Falling Into You

Hi Everyone!

TGIF! Boy, was I waiting for today like a child waiting for his milk and cookies. It's been a really tough week. We had to put our dog to sleep this Monday, and it's been incredibly hard on our entire family. We've had our dog, Koko, for over 10 years; she was really the sweetest dog you can have. When I told the the kids, they all broke down in tears. And even as I'm typing this, my eyes are welling up. Kok kept everyone company even until the last days of her life. She would wait for me to return home after dropping off the kids at school, so I was never lonely; she would wait downstairs with my husband until he finished working, late into the night, and walk upstairs with him when he was finally ready for bed; she'd lie down on the carpet with my daughter, who would talk to her about anything and everything, and let her put clip-on earrings on her; she'd accompany my son to his room when I told him to shower, so that he wouldn't be alone.

We had another dog that passed away a couple of years ago, but this one really hit everyone hard. Because this one was our only dog, and she was such a sweetheart. I still find myself automatically looking under my feet after propping them up on the coffee table, making sure I don't step on her if I got up, only to realize that wait, there isn't anyone down there. And when I enter my house through my garage, I'm still slowly opening the door because I'm used to her waiting for me there.

We miss you, Koko! You were the best companion to all of us. We will never forget you, and this is a way for us to remember you always. You'll be in our hearts forever.

Ok, well, now that I got you all crying (sorry)...back to our regular program...

It's been a little cooler these days. Thank goodness because it's just been too hot. I don't know if I mentioned this in my other posts, but my daughter keeps saying it over and over again, and I thought it's so funny because she says it with such enthusiasm, in that squeaky 4-year-old voice, that I had to mention it again. "I'm DONE with the heat!!!"

So I see that suede skirts has been trending these days. And I've been dying to try it out. I finally got a cute one from Zara that is totally appropriate for Fall. In a simple, dark brown color, you can dress it either up or down. I did the two looks so you get an idea of what a great investment this piece can be!

Casual